Yoo Ahjussi:

                     “Kim Minjeong”

 

   Yoo Ahjussi:

                     “Minjeong”

 

    Yoo Ahjussi:

                      “Mindoong~”

 

    Yoo Ahjussi:

                       “Babe..”

 

Kim Maltese:

“what is it”

 

     Yoo Ahjussi:

                       “Oohh you replied on babe LOL”

 

Kim Maltese:

“this will be my last reply”

 

     Yoo Ahjussi:

                        “No waitttt”

 

    Yoo Ahjussi:

         “Kim Minjeong”

 

     Yoo Ahjussi:

                       “Noooooo”

 

      Yoo Ahjussi:

                       “Come baaacckkkk. Give me attention :(”

 

Kim Maltese:

“im in class dummy”

 

        Yoo Ahjussi:

                         “And I’m in a company meeting. Wdym?”

 

Kim Maltese:

“then focus on ur meeting and stop texting”

 

        Yoo Ahjussi:

                           “But I don’t wanna listen to them”

 

Kim Maltese:

“well i do. stop bothering me”

 

“Karina, are you listening?”

 

A nudge from her manager beside her and the authoritative voice coming from the front made Jimin snap her head up from her phone. She caught unto the residual smile on her face and immediately dropped it, blinking her eyes to the petite woman who called this meeting.

 

“Yes, Irene unnie.”

 

“Then what did I say just now?”

 

Jimin quietly racked her brain for what could possibly be the conversation all about. The last time she paid attention was when the said woman entered the room and that was more or less half an hour ago.

 

“Uh, you said..” Jimin starts, a smirk growing on her face to which Irene raised her brows at, “..that I’m your best-selling artist right now and it’s all thanks to me that the company’s stocks are skyrocketing for the past couple of years. You’re welcome by the way.”

 

When Irene huffed at her remark, Jimin’s smirk grew bigger. She loves it when she gets a rise out of their Chief Director.

 

“Be serious Yoo Jimin.” Irene commands, sending Jimin the infamous icy glare that everyone would flinch to.

 

But who was she kidding. It’s Jimin.

 

“I am serious.” The singer retorts easily, sending back a charming smile to Irene’s direction.

 

Someone must have turned up the AC because the room suddenly grew colder, the few people in the room slightly shuddering at the change of temperature. Jimin on her end was trying her hardest not to burst out laughing at the tension brought about by Irene’s aura.

 

“Jimin,” Wendy who was seated beside her coaxed, sounding more like a reprimanding mother than a worried manager who might get the wrath of a fuming Chief Director.

 

Jimin decides to drop the mischief.

 

“Alright. I’m sorry, I wasn’t listening.” She chuckles in mirth, “But that’s only because I know what this meeting is all about.”

 

“Do you now?” Irene prods, eyebrow up in the air for the second time.

 

“Yup. And I refuse talk about it with you unless everyone in the room, except you, Wendy unnie and Seulgi unnie, leaves.”

 

Jimin suddenly felt a dozen pairs of eyes on her. Some are confused; some are simply baffled at her audacity instruction. But she doesn’t give a flying frappe.

 

She has every bit of idea what this meeting is called for and she wants to do it with the people she trusts the most in the company.

 

After what seemed like an hour (it was only a matter of seconds) of grueling staring contest between the singer and the Chief Director, Irene finally relented with a resigned sigh.

 

“You heard her,” she announced, “Everyone except Wendy and Seulgi, kindly leave the room and go back to your respective tasks for today. I would send out a memo if there’d be a need to have your teams with us again. You are dismissed.”

 

Scraping of chairs against the floor and a couple of murmurs emanate as each and everyone, bar the three people mentioned, exits the room. As soon as the last person closes the door behind them, Jimin lets out a loud sigh.

 

“Thank god I can finally breathe. Why did you have to call that many people anyway,” she complains, obnoxiously stretching herself on her chair. In her peripheral view, she could see Irene walking towards them at the other end of the table.

 

“It was the PR and Marketing teams. I want to make sure they could come up with the best strategy for your situation.”

 

Jimin snorts, “You make it sound like I did a capital offense of some sort.”

 

“Something similar,” Irene says, finally near enough to look at Jimin straight in the eyes, “First, you collapsed and wreaked havoc all over the country. Some investors were on the verge of pulling out because everyone blamed the company and we were placed in a very bad light—”

 

“Serves you right—”

 

“—I’m not done talking, Jimin. Second,” Irene emphasizes, “the media are now coming up with drug accusations for your hospitalization and we’re scrambling to get it under control—”

 

“You and everyone in this room know I don’t do that—”

 

“—and third,” Irene gives Jimin a longer look, “there’s a rumor going around that you are dating a woman.”

 

Jimin didn’t reply on the last. She simply held Irene’s stare and quietly regarded the woman.

 

Her silence speak must have been so loud because Irene’s commanding tone was gone, now replaced with sheer curiosity, “Is it true? You’re dating a woman?”

 

Jimin saw the post in TheQoo. At first, she didn’t want to read it. The post might just be another shipping tendencies that fans normally come up with for people in the industry and she doesn’t have time for that. But when she saw the pictures and the familiar silhouette of a petite woman in her favorite pair of flannels and sneakers, Jimin scrambled to get into the bottom of the discussion.

 

She had never been so fast in reading a post about her in that darn forum.

 

“I would have to ask her first,” Jimin breathes out, not at all perturbed about the question, “I wanna be sure that we are mutually dating and not just me being a stubborn admirer.”

 

Irene straightened her back at the implied admission. “So you are indeed romantically involved with a woman.”

 

“There you are again making it sound like a capital offense or something.”

 

“Maybe because it kind of is, Jimin. Especially in this country,” Irene sighs. There is no venom in her voice and her icy aura seemed to have melted at Jimin’s sort of admission, “Not in a legal sense but you get me right? You know how this is still a sensitive matter in this place. Most people aren’t open for this kind of relationships.”

 

“I don’t care about them,” Jimin indignantly responded, “They don’t get to decide who I want to be with.”

 

“They don’t,” Irene threw Jimin a pointed look. “But their opinion could largely influence your career that you’ve spent years to build. Not only yours but also the girl you’re involved with. If worst comes to worst, both your freedom and her private life could get compromised if we don’t handle this situation well.”

 

Jimin was all ready to pounce and protest. But it died in the moment she was reminded of Minjeong.

 

In the short amount of time Jimin had known her, Kim Minjeong seems to be someone who puts great value on privacy and self-preservation. She constantly reminded Jimin how they are separate individuals who have lives outside their bubble, something that Jimin would sometimes (most of the time) forget because a selfish part of her wants to keep the girl every day and every night.

 

And maybe that is one of the setbacks because Jimin had been selfish.

 

Minjeong was nothing short of amazing and supportive despite her limitations. She tolerated Jimin wholeheartedly that everytime she does, Jimin’s heart soars in unchartered boundaries of admiration and respect. She wanted to feel that sense of euphoria everytime Minjeong gives her the time and attention that she may or may not have overlooked the consequences of her actions on Minjeong.

 

That outside Minjeong and her beautiful mind and her pretty smile, she is still Karina Yoo: the dubbed godly princess who has everyone’s eyes watching her and the people around her.

 

Jimin had kept Minjeong the closest these months it was almost difficult to tell apart where she begins and where Minjeong ends.

 

It was only a matter of time that people outside their privy would notice.

 

“Don’t get me wrong, Jimin. I am not against your relationship or whatever you kids call unlabeled flings these days,” Irene adds, taking Jimin’s silence as a way to put more of her two cents, “But I don’t wanna see everything you’ve worked hard with crumble down just because of your tendency to go all out without even thinking. I’ve known you since you’re a kid Jimin and I know your next move even before you act on it. There’s a reason I’ve put you under Seulgi and Wendy’s care all these years.”

 

Jimin looks away from the woman’s stern gaze. She hates how correct Irene is. But she will not give her the satisfaction of admitting it because she is stubborn like that.

 

“I’m not a kid anymore, y’know,” comes her lame response.

 

“Yet you still act like it,” Irene reasons, sounding more like a disappointed parent than a restless Chief Director obliged to fix the impending mess her artist created to herself. "If you want me to see you as a grown up, you should start acting like one.”

 

Jimin must have fallen eerily quiet at the statement because the next thing she knew, her manager’s hand was on her shoulder, lightly squeezing as if to make sure she’s okay.

 

“Come on, let’s cut Jimin some slack. She’s been good. Sometimes stubborn but nothing that was borderline problematic,” Wendy convinces, ever gentle, “The issues right now are beyond her control. There’s no way she could’ve avoided it even if she wanted to. Please go easy on her unnie.”

 

“Oh just like what you’re doing?” Irene bites back, “If you’ve only been stricter and more responsible maybe we wouldn’t have all this mess in the first place. You’re her manager, Wendy. You’re supposed to guide her away from trouble, not lead her to it. On top of everything, she fell sick under your care. It was the least of my concern when it comes to you yet here we are.”

 

Irene turned to the other woman on the table, “And you, Seulgi,” she spat, “why did you go along with your scheduled session when you know she was sick? Years of being a choreographer and you couldn’t tell when your student is not on shape? I thought you knew better.”

 

The two women being reprimanded kept mum at the Chief Director’s admonishment, hanging their heads low to avoid Irene’s raging eyes. Something in Jimin coils at the sight of her two unnies taking the brunt of her lapses in judgment.

 

“Stop antagonizing them,” she mutters, “It’s not their fault okay? They did what was expected of them and it was me who didn’t listen. Like what you said, I have the tendency to go all out without thinking and I did it again. I’m sorry. Leave the unnies out of this.”

 

“It doesn’t work like that Jimin and you know that.” Irene rebukes, “You are under their supervision so anything involving you or that happened to you will always be attributable to them whether you like it or not. Maybe you should start thinking things through if you really hated the idea of them getting berated like this.”

 

Jimin had always been mischievous and a constant cause of headache for Irene. The girl was a menace and she is unapologetically loud about her attitude that Irene has long given up trying to suppress her naughty tendencies because despite this, Jimin was a gem. She produces results, excellent ones, and Irene still doesn’t know how the girl does that.

 

She would be outright lying if she says she doesn’t treat Jimin with a little bit more preference compared to other artists under the company because of her peculiar attitude.

 

Maybe it has something to do with how Jimin used to be that brutally honest, yet very sweet kid, who always told the younger version of the Chief Director that she will make Irene proud someday.

 

And she did. She made Irene very proud. Jimin has already achieved so many great things in her young age. But immense amount of accomplishments always comes with the responsibility to maintain especially for the girl’s side of the spectrum.

 

This is where Irene’s job comes into the picture. And as much as she treasures the girl like a sister, it is also her job to make sure that Jimin does not burn herself because of her tendencies.

 

“Look, I’m not the bad guy you might think I am Jimin,” she sighs, taking in the view of the younger girl who suddenly looked crestfallen after her outburst. “What I am are all sorts of worried about you, of your career, of the media. Above all, I’m worried that this matter will get the attention of the President and major stockholders. I have no more control of what will happen next if it reaches them. You don’t want that to happen, do you?”

 

Jimin quietly fiddles with her fingers, “Of course not.”

 

“Then we’re on the same page,” Irene breathes, “As what I said, I’m not against your preference or anything because that’s your choice. But we need to do something to suppress the on-going rumors especially that dating speculations if you want to continue your little set up with your girl fling.”

 

“She has a name,” Jimin stressed, irked at the thought of Minjeong being reduced to a nameless fling in the conversation. “It’s Kim Minjeong and she’s more than just a fling. She’s more than just a girl.”

 

Irene couldn’t help the amused smile on her face, “Okay, lover girl. No need to go defensive. I don’t know her name so it goes without saying that I’d call her a girl.”

 

Jimin just rolled her eyes in response.

 

“Now that you seem to get where I’m coming from, are you ready to actually listen to my plan? Because I don’t have all day.”

 

Irene moves a chair and settles herself, crossing her arms in all seriousness which is pretty much telling: no one is leaving the room until Irene has completely spelled everything out.

 

Jimin doesn’t have much choice, does she?

 

“Let’s hear it.”

 

 

***

 

 

When Minjeong told Jimin not to bother her, she didn’t expect the girl to really take her admonishment to heart. She has a head harder than a wall and a persistence of a kid Minjeong has stopped expecting the girl to ever listen to her.

 

But much to her surprise, it has been days since Jimin last texted and the last message Minjeong sent her was left on read.

 

The celebrity also stopped pestering her for their nightly calls. Usually, Jimin would be up and about Minjeong’s business after her shift at the restaurant, having familiarized Minjeong’s schedule like the back of her hand (Jimin’s words, not hers).

 

Except that first night she didn’t. And the next night. And the following nights after that.

 

(Minjeong may or may not have been staring at her phone to sleep ever since that night Jimin did not call her.)

 

Apart from the missing texts and evening calls, the singer has also been MIA at the restaurant for the past couple of days. Not that Minjeong really expected her to come after she advised the girl to get enough rest upon her discharge from the hospital.

 

 

(“Why can’t I come and see you?”

 

“Because you need to rest, Jimin. You just got out of the hospital.”

 

“Exactly. I got out of the hospital which means I’m back to being healthy. I can go and see you!”

 

“..it doesn’t work like that.”

 

“It does! Go ask my doctor!”

 

“Your doctor is Joy unnie. Do you really want me to ask her?”

 

“Okay forget I said that... But Kim Minjeong~”

 

“No buts, Jimin. Take a rest, okay? If you cannot do it for yourself, do it for me. Can you do it for me?”

 

“..yes. Yes, okay. Sure. I’ll do it for you.”

 

“There you go.”)

 

 

She was glad that Jimin took her advice, highkey hoping that the girl was indeed resting and not on the road again for a schedule.

 

But what Minjeong cannot comprehend was the glaring absence of correspondence from the girl. It’s not like she doesn’t have Minjeong’s number for Jimin not to at least spare her some text, a voice call, a freaking emoji maybe, anything.

 

Okay.. Minjeong should probably relax.

 

She really should because 1) maybe Jimin is just busy being her superstar self that she totally forgot Minjeong’s existence; 2) she and Jimin are not even in a relationship to begin with, the girl is has no obligation to give her attention whatsoever; and 3) Minjeong is not supposed to get affected over a trivial matter like this; she is a strong, independent woman who can get by on her own and she is not clingy okay.

 

(She recites the last part like a mantra in her head over and over again as she stomps her way to her classes with still no message from Jimin and her usual ‘good morning kim maltese don’t bite anyone today’.)

 

The negative aura caused by the absence of one, annoying girl may have been evident in her face because Yizhuo confronted her about it later that night when they’re on their way to the local pub.

 

The band has a gig and seeing that Jimin did not come to the restaurant again (yes, Minjeong waited for Jimin to come tonight and no, she isn’t sad that there’s still no Jimin that came even after she waited for half an hour beyond her shift why would she be sad pfft), Minjeong decided to tag along and asked Yizhuo to walk there together.

 

“You’ve aged for like five years since I saw you this morning no thanks to that permanent scowl on your face,” her friend comments, chewing on her ever favorite strawberries as they walk along the moderately busy streets, “What’s up with you?”

 

“Nothing,” Minjeong mumbles, kicking a pebble on the pavement mindlessly, “Maybe it’s just that time of the month.”

 

“You always look like it’s that time of the month,” Yizhuo sassed. “Right now you appear far worse. Like you’re singlehandedly going through ten single women’s PMS all by yourself and you don’t know how to handle it.”

 

Minjeong just rolled her eyes at the girl, ignoring her remark and taking her attention back to the tarmac. Yizhuo and her bizarre descriptions.

 

“Unnie.”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“Unnie.”

 

“What?” Minjeong snaps her head up and sees Yizhuo with an indescribable look on her face. Minjeong does not know what to make out of that look.

 

“Is there something you’re not telling me?”

 

For some reason, Minjeong felt a lone, cold sweat trickle down the side of her neck at the question, “What makes you think that?”

 

“I don’t know. You tell me. I’m not the one looking like a sulky puppy who hasn’t been coddled by her owner for an entire year.”

 

Again. Yizhuo and her bizarre descriptions.

 

“I told you it’s nothing.”

 

“Is it really?”

 

Minjeong huffs at the persistent game Yizhuo is currently playing. It reminds her of a certain tall girl with a mole on the side of her lip—she is definitely not talking about Jimin.

 

“Where are you going with this Ning?” she tiredly asks, not in the mood to play guess. “Just spell it out.”

 

Yizhuo may have caught unto her sour disposition because instead of beating around the bush, she simply dropped the question. And boy was it a bomb.

 

“Are you and Karina unnie dating?”

 

It may have been a bad idea (it is) because Minjeong choked on the strawberry she mindlessly stole from the girl’s box, coughing out bits of the fruit as Yizhuo immediately hits her back to help her breathe again.

 

“What the , Yizhuo?!”

 

“What?” Yizhuo looks so lost at her reaction, clearly confused, “You told me to spell it out and I perfectly spelled it out for you. I honestly wanted to ask you that since the other day.”

 

Minjeong had to do a couple of breathing to make sure there are no more remnants of strawberries stuck in before focusing her attention back to the girl who almost sent her to her early demise, “Where did you even get that idea?”

 

She finds herself heating up at the thought of her and Jimin dating. Well, they basically are.

 

..right?

 

“The internet.”

 

“What? What internet?” Minjeong’s felt her brows creasing, “What webtoon are you reading this time? I swear I just told you to focus on your acads Ning Yizhuo.”

 

Yizhuo just sighed at her friend, clearly getting frustrated at the girl’s uncultured yet again. She really thinks that if the apocalypse happens today, Kim Minjeong would be reading the memo about the world ending after 5-7 business days because the girl outright doesn’t care about things going on around her.

 

She fishes her phone out from her cardigan with a shake of her head.

 

“Figured you haven’t read it,” handing the device for Minjeong to take, “The post has been deleted a couple of days ago. But since I hoard and take screenshots of every little thing involving Karina unnie in the internet, I was able to save it before it was taken down. Just scroll to the left to see the rest.”

 

On the phone, Minjeong observes, is a screenshot of an article in what she reads is a site named TheQoo. A protest was just about to slip her tongue as to why Yizhuo is making her read some gossip online. But said protest immediately dissipated into thin air the moment she made out of the bigger letters in bold.

 

“Karina Yoo on a date..with a girl? Is she…you know..”

 

“What is this?” Minjeong whispered, eyes never leaving the article.

 

“Read it unnie.”

 

And she did. From how the original poster was living in a neighborhood when she suddenly saw Karina Yoo walking with a girl to how she allegedly saw Karina Yoo giving the girl a hug and a peck on the cheek in what they thought was a secluded place. The original poster did not include a picture of the hug and peck as purported but they did post the walking part of the two women striding side by side a dimly lighted street.

 

Above all, it was the familiar pair of black flannels and white sneakers the girl with Karina Yoo sported that caught Minjeong’s attention. The apparels were oddly recognizable for her liking.

 

Her breath hitched when she realized what she is reading.

 

“Is that you on the picture?” Yizhuo tentatively asked, not judging but cautious, “It looks like you unnie. You have the same flannels and sneakers. And the body build. Gosh, I can easily spot you in a crowd and that definitely looks like you. Tell me I’m not hallucinating.”

 

Minjeong looks up to meet Yizhuo’s expecting eyes.

 

There are a lot of things to take in after reading the article that Minjeong doesn’t know where to start. From someone sneakily taking a picture of her and Jimin, to following them in her apartment complex; don’t get her started on that post having more than a hundred thousand views and thousand comments. Everything is so messed up.

 

She knows one thing though: she needs her bestfriend now more than ever.

 

“I-I think that’s me.”

 

 

***

 

 

(“Owww! Oww! Stop hitting me!”

 

“You! Sneaky! Woman! I thought I’m your bestfriend??! Why didn’t you tell me?!”

 

“Let me explain okay. Let me explain Ning Yizhuo!”

 

“Oh you will have all the time to explain later, alright. Right now, I want you to feel the fruit of your betrayal!!”

 

“Fruit of wha—oww!! I said stop hitting me! I’m your unnie!”

 

“Unnies don’t exist when it comes to traitors! Aaaaaaaa!!”)

 

 

 

***

 

 

“I’m really sorry I have to drag you into this, Jaem.” Jimin spoke as the boy in the driver’s seat expertly maneuvers the steering wheel.

 

It is her long-time friend, Na Jaemin. He and Jimin entered the company just around the same time. He was later on placed in a boy group and debuted just a year before Jimin was introduced as a soloist. They are around the same age and Jimin considers him one of the very few men he trusts herself around with.

 

“Don’t worry about it,” Jaemin quips, throwing Jimin his charming smile that makes thousands of girls crying on their knees. Except Jimin, of course. “You know how I’m always ready to help you with anything.”

 

The statement only added more emotions to Jimin’s messy state.

 

“Tell me again why I rejected you a couple of years back?” she asks, half-joking, half-meant because the boy is probably one of the rarest men who deserve rights and she openly turned him down when Jaemin shyly confessed about his feelings.

 

“Because you said I’m short and you wanted a boy who’s taller than you.” Jaemin chuckles, amusement written all over his tone, “Which has become moot since I’m much taller than you now. Does that mean you’d finally reconsider your answer since I’m already a couple of centimeters higher than your hairline?”

 

Jimin grins at the memory of her painfully brazen younger self who had completely no filter whatsoever. (She’s terribly aware that she is still like that today but Jimin would like to think that she is a lot tamer now. Something that calls for a celebration.)

 

“Nah. For me, you’re still that short-legged person who can’t sling an arm over my shoulder without tiptoeing.” she sends a smirk on Jaemin’s direction. “I don’t think you getting a height upgrade because of puberty will ever change that image of you inside my head.”

 

Jaemin laughs out loud at her remark, his perfect set of teeth and megawatt smile showing for Jimin to witness.

 

It only but reminds her of the very charming smile Kim Minjeong has, making her heart constrict in both the most painful and pleasant way.

 

“You’re still an , Min.”

 

“It has been my brand since day one, Jaem. I can’t stop now.”

 

The two burst out into fits of giggle at the absurdity of their conversation, sharing a meaningful look with each other for a second before settling into a shared, comfortable silence.

 

Jimin would be lying if she says she didn’t miss hanging around with the boy. Jaemin was one of the few persons who actually knew her all before the growth spurt and spotlight and Karina Yoo. Long before everything right now was only Jimin and Jaemin; the ying and yang, the completely opposite duo who managed to work things out despite the glaring difference in personalities.

 

Jaemin was part of Jimin’s spirited youth and she is thankful that the boy chose to be part of her early adulthood too.

 

“You really like this person, don’t you?” Jaemin gently prods after awhile, throwing Jimin a glance, “You wouldn’t be going through these measures if you don’t.”

 

Jimin solemnly looks out the window at the inquiry. Her mind immediately travelled to that one girl who triggered this whole new level of determination that Jimin never thought she would have.

 

The past few days had been, to put it simply, a mess. It never really occurred to Jimin that her already complex celebrity life could get any more complicated when she decided to take a leap of fate and persistenly wormed her way into Kim Minjeong’s valued space.

 

Jimin admits that she has been stubborn about it without thinking of the repercussions to her status as a celebrity. She’s always been like that. It’s a constant let’s cross the bridge when we get there Jimin to her; as long as she’s happy, everything be damned. It is like her own little version of rebellion that she can never really execute in flesh because of her second persona as Karina Yoo.

 

And here she is, on yet another cross roads of the many spontaneous paths she chose to take.

 

But among those spur of the moment things she had done in her short life span, this has got to be the one Jimin will never regret risking.

 

She gets to meet a beautiful soul like Kim Minjeong after all. The brave, rational, most of the time sometimes glaring, Kim Minjeong who never once failed to put a smile on her face. What is there to regret?

 

Minjeong is both the first and last slice of pizza in a pizza box, the aroma of a freshly-brewed coffee in the morning, the crisp of a sizzling strip of bacon that is best consumed when hot and the intake of a lungful of air after a long and tiring jog.

 

Minjeong is everything. Jimin is willing to go through a three-hour long horror movie with lots of gore and bloody murder if it means she still gets to share the same space with Kim Minjeong at the end of the day.

 

Never mind if she hates horror movies. She would hate it more without a Minjeong in her life.

 

“You have no idea how much, Jaem. You have no idea.”

 

 

 

***

 

 

“I still can’t believe you didn’t tell me.” Yizhuo grumbles beside Minjeong as they round a corner. The pub is two more blocks away and Minjeong thinks that she girl needs no more vocal warm-up once they reach the place. The shrieking Yizhuo made while hitting her was enough to strain .

 

“Because I know you would react the way you reacted just now,” she explains, still nursing her bruising arms that Yizhuo assaulted upon hearing the true story behind the post and the entirety of her thing with Jimin.

 

Minjeong finally told the girl about her true dynamics with the singer. It was one of her concerns to be honest because she (and probably the next three generations of her family) knows how much of a fan Yizhuo is. Minjeong doesn’t know how the girl would react but she had an idea that it will involve some a couple of smacks and shrieks.

 

Her instinct never once failed her.

 

(She would like to tell Yizhuo that she is actually one of the many contributing factors that her life got entangled with the high profile celebrity. If not for that stupid concert and stupid fanmeet, she wouldn’t even know about Karina Yoo’s existence.

 

But Minjeong saves that argument later. She has a pouting Ning Yizhuo to woo.)

 

“Still. It’s Karina unnie and I’m your bestfriend. I should be the first one to know about everything.”

 

Yizhuo looks like a kid who got her candy taken away and Minjeong would have laughed at her comical face if not for the girl looking genuinely upset.

 

“I’m sorry okay? From now on, I will tell you everything. I promise.”

 

“You better!” Yizhuo’s pout seems to have grown exponentially, “I hate not knowing things especially when it comes to my favorite people.”

 

Minjeong grins, “Does that mean I’m one of the favorite people?” laughing out loud when Yizhuo only but huffed at her.

 

“I can demote and block list you right at this moment Kim Minjeong.”

 

“Hey!”

 

The saunter to the pub became relatively easier after that. Ningning probed more and as ridiculous as it sounded, she appeared more curious about Jimin’s interest, ignoring how Minjeong repeatedly told her that the celebrity was a literal offspring of the god of nuisance.

 

 

(“It’s her love language.”

 

“Love langua—Ning, she coerced me to sit with her and watch her eat while I was on my shift. She specifically told Yeri unnie that I serve her food, not Renjun or Haechan. Me! She pestered me of all people!”

 

“Aww. How sweet~”

 

“No! That’s not sweet! That’s annoying!”

 

“It’s sweet unnie.”

 

“Did you even listen to me?”

 

“Yes and I really think it was sweet of Karina unnie.”

 

“It wasn’t!”

 

“It was. C’mon, tell me more about how sweet my idol is.”

 

“Oh my godddd”)

 

 

“So, have you two talked about the post yet?” Yizhuo drawls, moved passed the conversation about her Karina unnie being the sweetest and now genuinely curious about their situation. There is no way the singer didn’t see that post or at least been made aware. “It was taken down but it gained a lot of attraction. For sure Karina unnie saw it.”

 

“We haven’t talked for days,” Minjeong informs, a soft sigh escaping her lips, “The last text I sent was left on read and she stopped coming to the diner too.”

 

“Ah so that’s why you’ve been sulky.”

 

Minjeong sent the smirking girl a half-hearted glare.

 

“I’m not sulky. I told you, it’s probably just the time of the month.”

 

Yizhuo just nodded and held out her hand to Minjeong’s direction, “Okay. Talk to my hand, come on. I’m so done with you lying to my face.”

 

Minjeong swatted the hand away with a grunt, earning a loud cackle from Yizhuo who seemed to be enjoying her predicament.

 

“No but hear me out,” Yizhuo says after collecting herself, “Maybe Karina unnie going incognito has something to do with the post. She’s probably told by her management to keep it low for awhile and let the situation die down.”

 

“Without at least telling me?” Minjeong grumbles, glaring at her shoes.

 

Yizhuo smirks but stops herself from teasing the girl again when she saw how her friend looked genuinely upset, if the deep crease on her forehead was any indication.

 

“There’s gotta be some reasons, unnie,” she convinces, nudging Minjeong who hasn’t stopped sending daggers to her shoes, “Don’t worry. Karina unnie will come around pretty soon. I just know it.”

 

Minjeong temporarily pushed back her grumpy thoughts when they made it to the pub. She and Yizhuo were happily met by the boys who are already setting up the stage. The place wasn’t filled. There were only a handful of heads scattered around, the hushed to moderately loud conversations from the various customers creating an inviting ambiance for a late night performance.

 

Minjeong was tweaking the pegs of her guitar when Kyungsoo, the owner of the bar, called her attention, “Minjeong-ah, are you going to sing tonight?”

 

She smiled up at the man who has become a brotherly figure to her and the rest of the band in the short period of time they have known him, “Yeah oppa. Yizhuo and I are going to switch from time to time.”

 

“Cool. Do you want to open the stage with a duet with me? I’m in the mood for a performance.”

 

Yizhuo, Haechan, Renjun and Chenle hollered from their positions, visibly thrilled at the thought of the man singing with them. Minjeong’s smile widened when she got a good grasp of what Kyungsoo was asking from her.

 

“Oh my god oppa! Of course I’ll sing a duet with you. That’d be awesome!”

 

Soon enough, Minjeong was standing side by side Kyungsoo in the middle of the stage. They were going through a printed copy of the song that Kyungsoo picked out for them, the man sorting through their line distribution. The piece they’re going to perform was entitled Tell Me (What is Love) which, coincidentally, is one of the songs that Minjeong had been hooked with as of late.

 

“You get the purple-coded. I’ll do the blue ones.” Kyungsoo instructs, pointing at the color-coded lyrics on paper, “You do the first two english lines and then I do the next two. I think it’ll sound better if we do some adlibs in the middle.”

 

Minjeong nodded her head in understanding. “Okay. I’ve been listening to this song these days so I think I have an idea where to insert the adlibs, oppa.”

 

The man lights up at the information, “Great. Let’s rock this stage, Minjeong.”

 

With a go signal to the band, the tunes of the song started.

 

Oh yeah, don’t leave me baby

Just turn around

 

Yeah- Play another slow jam

(Oh- Play another slow jam)

This is my property (Oh-)

Tell me, what is love?

 

As I forgot about you who doesn’t love me

I live doing everything that I wanted to do

I can’t ever erase you from my head.

Why?

 

Minjeong in a deep breath before belting out her designated part.

 

Who are you to make me pitiful?

If I cursed you out I would have felt better at least

Why? Why did you leave me

Without saying anything?

 

suddenly constricted when the lyrics left , silently praying to any supreme power who may be listening that no one hopefully noticed the slight tremble of her voice at the last two lines.

 

I’m not ready to break up. Wait a minute

Waiting is too long it has no limit

I keep calling for you but you’re answerless

And only echoes keep coming back to me…

I hate myself

For living on after losing you

But I hope that some day…

Oh, tell me, what is love?

Tell me, what is love?

 

The image of Jimin and her painfully beautiful face infiltrates her mind. Minjeong suddenly finds herself drowning with her head above the water.

 

Like you told me while gazing into my eyes

The two letters hurt like humiliation.

My heart finally knows

Oh, tell me, what is love?

Tell me, what is love?

 

Her mind goes back to the last couple of days. It was stupid, really. She was working herself up over Jimin being an absentee and not bothering to leave her some messages. They are not even together and Minjeong is more than just the girl who scoffs at an empty inbox and quiet diner shifts.

 

Hey, baby please stop..

You stop in your tracks walking away from me

Please even now… NO NO NO

It doesn’t matter if it’s a lie.

I want to know at least the truth.

 

She wants to blame the girl. It was Jimin who crawled into her life uninvited after all. Minjeong was minding her own business when the self-absorbed, higher than the gods, mouth unhinged, celebrity crept in, clandestinely making herself comfortable within Minjeong’s sacred space.

 

(Why did you keep)

pushing me away?

(How I kept approaching you,)

Was that selfish of me?

I can’t escape from these thoughts.

Is such a thing love?

 

But who was she kidding? Jimin was a burglar in the night, looting her attention and her heart altogether, yet Minjeong let her in. She willingly opened her door even with the red flags that came along with Jimin and her mighty existence.

 

I’m frozen in the same place

Even after time passes

Happy moments stopped me

Like a photo. Yeah

 

It takes two to tango they say and Minjeong has two left foot. Fortunately for her, Jimin knows how to dance and she became Minjeong’s right one. Together they pranced around without a care in the world and it was such an experience.

 

Now that Jimin is nowhere to be found, Minjeong finds herself tripping and stumbling with her two left foot again.

 

They ask, people ask

if I’m alright

(if I’m alright)

I break a little (YEAH)

my slashed heart hurts

Like this, SO BAD…

don’t go far from me Oh- yeah

No baby you oh- no no no no no

I’m not a kind of steel yeah (yeah)

 

All of a sudden, she doesn’t know how to do it alone. Jimin has gradually become the other strong one who holds her up, the girl who grounds her and takes her to places at the same time, making her head spin.

 

Minjeong needs her here, by her side, within her space. Just where the hell is she?

 

Like you told me while gazing into my eyes

(Come back to me babe)

The two letters hurt like humiliation. (Yeah)

My heart finally knows..

Oh, tell me, what is love?

Tell me, what is love?

(Tell me, what is love)

 

Minjeong thinks it’s too early to put a name to the feeling. But it’s there. She knows it’s there.

 

It has constantly stirred something in the middle of her chest, travelling in a speed of light to all points of her body, leaving her gasping for air sometimes. She had been longing for the feeling, finds herself chasing the sensation whenever it hits her.

 

Just like right now, it hits her again.

 

But there’s no Jimin. Jimin is nowhere to be found. She has been gone, somewhere, anywhere, Minjeong doesn’t know and she wants to know, she badly wants to know and she misses her.

 

. Minjeong misses Jimin so damn much it’s starting to hurt..

 

 

***

 

 

The hoots and impressed cries of the audience filled up the place as the song ends. Minjeong squints at the loud booming of everyone and grimaces when Yizhuo’s proud shrieks nearly blasted her eardrums.

 

She bowed at Kyungsoo who was grinning at her like a proud parent, sending him an appreciative smile in return before she excuses herself for a bathroom break.

 

It was only when she was inside the confines of the cramped space did Minjeong finally found herself breathing again. The stage was a success, she concludes. But it was undeniably overwhelming.

 

To her at least. Thoughts of Jimin all throughout the song have sent Minjeong spiraling down a roller coaster of emotions. It was the first time she felt so strongly after a performance that Minjeong doesn’t know how to make out of it.

 

All because of one, absent Yoo Jimin.

 

Splashing some water on her face, Minjeong takes a couple of breaths to calm her nerves down. She can vaguely hear the thrumming in her temples, pressing a hand against her chest to make sure that her heart is still intact inside her ribcage.

 

“Calm down, will you?” she whispers to no one, “You’ll see her soon. Just hang in there.”

 

It took Minjeong a few more minutes to talk herself down. After making sure that she looks presentable enough, she exits the room. Yizhuo’s angelic voice immediately registered in her senses and she sees her bestfriend belting her own version of Like Being Hit By A Bullet in the middle of the stage.

 

Minjeong swallowed down a bitter sigh. She feels exactly like being hit by a bullet right now all thanks to a certain girl who has seemingly ghosted her. She wonders if Yizhuo purposely chose the song to get a rise out of her.

 

Cheering herself up with the thought of seeing Myong and Myang after this gig, Minjeong started making her way back to the stage.

 

Only to halt in her steps when a strong and sudden pull from behind came, forcibly stopping her from walking forward. Minjeong felt a hand over and a solid arm across her midriff yanking her back, much to her terror.

 

“Mmm!!”

 

Panicked surged through her body when she felt a warm body pressing against her. It doesn’t help that she was tugged to a relatively dimmer part of the already badly lit bar, obscuring her from people who could help her break away from her attacker.

 

But before Minjeong could even think of using what was left of her knowledge on self-defense she learned in primary school, her attacker spoke from behind, “Hey, it’s me. It’s me.”

 

Minjeong’s whimpers for help stopped, replaced with a very confused, “Mmm??”

 

Her attacker had the audacity to chuckle in her ear, “Why are you so cute even from this angle?”

 

Upon hearing the familiar, hushed voice, Minjeong visibly relaxes, which resulted for her attacker to loosen her grip over , “J-Jimin?”

 

“The one and only.”

 

Oh.

 

Wait, what???

 

“What the where you thinking?!” Minjeong hissed, hitting the arm locked around her waist with such vigor, obviously pissed at the stunt.

 

“I’m sorry I’m sorry!” Jimin quickly appeased, “I didn’t know how else to get your attention.”

 

“So you thought it’s better to pull me from behind and drag me here like some crazy abductor?!”

 

“Well, yes..” Jimin had the nerve to sound sheepish, “Told you, I don’t know how else to get your attention without getting seen. And this is the only corner here dark enough to hide.”

 

Minjeong was so sure she was this close to losing her mind all because of Yoo Jimin!

 

“Hey, I’m sorry..” the girl from behind says again, this time sounding way too softer in Minjeong’s ear, “I didn’t mean to scare you. Did I scare you?”

 

Minjeong wants to say yes, Jimin, in fact I’ve been scared for the past couple of days that I did not see you I thought you decided that you’re better off without me or something. But she immediately swallowed the words down as soon as it popped up in her head.

 

So she settled for a, “No, it’s okay. I’m just—” finds herself heaving a sigh at the turn of events tonight.

 

From missing Jimin, realizing that she indeed missed Jimin while on stage singing her heart out, telling herself that it’s okay, she’s going to see Jimin soon, and to this moment, finally having the girl she had been longing, hugging her from behind, in flesh.

 

Minjeong doesn’t exactly know what to feel.

 

“Where were you?” she asks instead. She decides that it’s better to get to the root cause of her frustrations which was, surprise surprise, Jimin’s absence, “You haven’t called or texted for the past few days. You didn’t come to the diner too which was understandable because I know I told you to rest. But… you know..”

 

Minjeong pursed her lips, contemplating whether it was even worth mentioning. But she remembers that they’re on the next level of their dynamics and are way past the ‘it’s not my place so I won’t ask’ stage.

 

She remembers that this is Jimin, the same girl who tells her exactly what she feels. Minjeong knows she owes the girl the same amount of candor.

 

“I was expecting to hear from you. A text or voice mail would’ve sufficed. But I didn’t get any so I was kinda bummed. It waiting for something that I didn’t know would come or not.”

 

The chuckle that escaped sounded so dry even in her ears Minjeong internally cringed at her awkwardness. There goes her cool reputation.

 

But when she felt Jimin encircle another arm across her midriff, now holding her with two of her strong arms, and nuzzling her head deeper into the crook of her neck, Minjeong thinks it was worth the lost of her cool reputation.

 

“I’m sorry,” she hears Jimin whisper, sounding so apologetic Minjeong suddenly forgot why she was so frustrated in the first place, “I needed time to think.”

 

“About what?”

 

It took a moment for Jimin to answer, “Things.”

 

The distracted lilt in Jimin’s voice gave Minjeong a whiplash, not used to this kind of tone from the usually intense, always spirited girl.

 

“Is everything okay?” she probes, drawing small circles on the girl’s arm, “You don’t sound like your usual self.”

 

“Why? What do I usually sound like?” Jimin prods.

 

“Oh y’know, talkative, annoying,” Minjeong replies. “..insufferable,” earning her a low chuckle from the girl.

 

The sound was so close in her ear it made Minjeong’s knees go jelly, silently thanking Jimin that her hold is so tight or else Minjeong would’ve already fallen off.

 

“Yeah I’m just—” Jimin’s arms around her waist tightened, as if she’s scared that Minjeong is going anywhere, “I just missed you. I missed you so much, Minjeong-ah.”

 

Minjeong’s stomach flips at the declaration, swallowing a squeal that was this close to escaping . This wasn’t the first time Jimin has said those words to her. But something about the girl’s tone made it more profound.

 

“I missed you too..” Minjeong finds herself responding, pressing her head against Jimin’s that was propped on her shoulder, “I missed you so much it started hurting.”

 

Jimin in a breath near her ear, making Minjeong’s head spin.

 

“This is the first time I heard you say you miss me.”

 

“Because it’s true,” Minjeong rasps, closes her eyes when she remembers the past, painful days of not seeing Jimin, “You have no idea how much I wanted to see you.”

 

There was no point of lying. The past couple of Jimin-less days proved to be one of Minjeong’s saddest points in a while. She doesn’t want to go through that again without at least telling the girl how much it affected her.

 

There is no use of holding herself back. She’s already in too deep anyway.

 

“I wanted to see you too,” Jimin murmurs against her earlobe, “I wanted to hold you like this, feel you like this. God, Minjeong. I was losing my mind.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Yeah..”

 

Something shifted and Minjeong slowly felt the lips on her ear travel downsouth, grazing ever so slightly against the smooth of her neck. Jimin’s lips were chapped against her soft skin, causing goosebumps to rise on its wake, making her shiver.

 

Jimin must have felt the shudder of her body because Minjeong was pulled closer against Jimin’s chest, space becoming a distant memory. Minjeong’s mind was going haywire at the sensation she thought her head was going to fall off.

 

Her hand unconsciously slithered to the side of Jimin’s head, steadying her, craning her own neck for more access. Her act must’ve fueled Jimin because the next thing she knew, the tender kisses have grown into rough ones, getting more intense, tipping Minjeong to the rim of her sanity.

 

“Jimin..” she rasps, breathless.

 

“Hmm?” Jimin simply hums, the vibration of the sound against her skin made her body so hot Minjeong thinks she is about to combust.

 

She suddenly wants to see Jimin’s face. She wants to hold it. She wants to cradle it in her palms. She wants to kiss her. So she moves to turn around.

 

But Jimin held her in place.

 

“No, no, wait,” she pants, “Let’s stay like this,” holding her tighter.

 

“Why?” Minjeong wheezes, doesn’t care if she sounded desperate.

 

“I just—” a deep sigh was what she got from the girl, “I don’t think I’d ever want to leave if I see your pretty face.”

 

Minjeong felt her body deflating.

 

“Then don’t,” her hold on Jimin’s arms tightening at the thought of the girl disappearing again, “Don’t leave. Just stay here.”

 

“I can’t baby,” Jimin explains dejectedly, burrowing her head back into Minjeong’s neck that she was close to devouring seconds ago, “I can’t protect you if I’m near you.”

 

The tension caused by whatever they were doing moments ago dissipated, suddenly replaced by the glaring reality that weighed both of them down.

 

“I don’t need protection,” Minjeong insists, “It’s you. I need you, Jimin.”

 

She hears a whimper, a ing whimper, from the girl behind her and Minjeong’s desire to see Jimin’s face intensifies.

 

“I need you too,” Jimin whispers, “But I won’t be able to sleep at night with the thought of them chasing you around because of me. That’s not the life you deserve.”

 

“What are you saying?” Minjeong presses her lips, anxiety gnawing at her for the numerous possibilities of what Jimin will say next.

 

Is she going to call everything quits? Are they going their separate ways?

 

Anything is possible given their situation and Minjeong doesn’t know if she can take the option of not having Jimin in the end.

 

But the girl simply pulls her in, breathes in her scent and nestles her face on the space where her shoulder meets her neck.

 

“What I’m saying is I need you to trust me,” Jimin speaks softly, “Whatever happens, I want you to trust me Minjeong. Can you do that?”

 

Minjeong didn’t take long to respond, “I already do, Jimin,” knows her answer to Jimin’s question even before the girl could ask her, even before everything, “So much.”

 

 

 

***

 

 

“Breaking: South Korea’s godly princess Karina Yoo and NCT Dream’s Jaemin Reportedly Dating”

 

“Just In: Karina Yoo and NCT Dream’s Jaemin Spotted Leaving the Superstar’s Penthouse Together; Dating?”

 

“[HOT] Dispatch Reveals NCT Dream’s Jaemin and Karina Yoo Are Dating”

 

 

***

 

 

Minjeong simply stares. She can feel Yizhuo’s worried eyes beside her but she cannot really do anything. So she just stared.

 

Stared at the bold, screaming letters on the phone.

 

Dating. Jaemin. Karina Yoo..

 

Until she heard a couple of angry murmurs not far from them.

 

“Jaemin and Karina??? That who can’t even sing?!”

 

Yizhuo said something but Minjeong didn’t hear her. Her ears are zoomed in to that obnoxious conversation just a few tables from where they are seated.

 

“She has a resting face colder than Antarctica. I rarely see her smile too. What did my boy even see in her???”

 

“I bet she seduced him. Probably forced Jaemin to hook up with her and he had to agree because she is a big household name who can ruin him if he says no. My poor boy!!”

 

Yizhuo said something again and she seemed alarmed now, distress. Minjeong didn’t understand why her friend looked constipated like that. Did she eat something bad?

 

“They don’t click. I don’t see the chemistry. She’s so stiff and really y. She looks so mean too. I don’t like her for Jaemin!”

 

“Nana was forced into this I just knew it! He wouldn’t lay his eyes on this fugly looking woman! Look at her! Her mother must be crying from her grave.”

 

Something snapped and Minjeong sees red.

 

She faintly hears Yizhuo’s voice from a distance. But she was too damn occupied to understand whatever it was her friend was saying.

 

Neither was the pathetic shrieks of the girl beneath her.